Crop harvesting headers generally include a main frame having a main rear structural member extending across a width of the header and a plurality of arms extending forwardly from the main rear structural member to a front edge of the header. At the front edge is mounted a cutter bar carrying a cutting knife so as to cut the standing crop at the forward edge and to allow that standing crop to fall or be directed onto a platform or other support rearward of the cutting knife.
The header generally includes a transport device in the form of an auger or a draper which then carries the cut crop across the header, that is at right angles to the forward direction to a collection area.
Such headers can be used with a combine harvester for supplying the material from a collection area into the feeder housing of the combine harvester or can be used with a swather for depositing the material from the collection area onto the ground in the form a swath.
Such headers can include additional elements such as conditioning rolls which act upon the crop material before or after its movement to the collection area. Such headers may or may not include a reel which can assist in handling the crop as it is cut and moved to the platform or other support area.
The present invention is concerned with the transportation of the header and is not intended to be limited to any particular type of header.
The present invention is particularly concerned with headers of the type which are attached onto a transport vehicle, which is a combine harvester or swather tractor. The vehicle supports the header from behind the main structural member so that the header is presented forwardly of the vehicle with its width transverse to the working direction of movement of the vehicle. The width of the header is necessarily relatively large to provide a wide cutting action and this width is normally larger then can be accommodated through gates or along roads.
One important problem of a header of this type is therefore to provide a transportation arrangement for the header by which it can be separated from the transport vehicle and towed in a direction generally at right angles to the working direction so that its width when towed is significantly reduced relative to the working width.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,810 issued Sep. 14, 1993, of Fox et al assigned to the present assignees MacDon, there is disclosed an arrangement by which the header includes its own transportation wheels which can be rotated from a working position to a transport position so that the header can be separated from the transport vehicle and towed generally by the same transport vehicle in a direction at right angles to its working direction.
With this arrangement there is a single wheel at one end of the header and a tandem wheel arrangement at the opposite end of the header. The single wheel is rotated through 90° and carries a hitch pole which is attached to the towing vehicle. The towing vehicle therefore steers the single wheel at one end of the header. The tandem wheel arrangement initially provides an axle which is at right angles to the direction of working movement and provides two wheels spaced across the width of the header. When moved to the transport position, the axle is turned through 90° so that one wheel moves forwardly of the header to a position in front of the cutter bar so the axle can provide support for the cutter bar. The header is therefore supported in the transport position on the single front wheel and on the transverse rear axle and is towed by steering the front wheel with the hitch pole while the rear axle remains fixed. The single wheel and the tandem wheel arrangement in the working position of the header act as gauge wheels rolling upon the ground and holding the header at a required height relative to the ground.
This arrangement has achieved considerable success and is widely used on headers 30 feet in width and larger.
However in regard to smaller headers of the order of less than 30 feet, the axle arrangement can not be accommodated and therefore this arrangement is impractical for headers of this size.
An alternative arrangement for transporting a header of this type is to provide a separate trailer onto which the header is placed for towing behind the transport vehicle. However the trailer is inconvenient, relatively expensive and has the problem that it is generally in the wrong place when transport of the header is required.
Honey Bee of Saskatchewan, Canada, show in their brochure a header for attachment to a bidirectional tractor where the tractor is attached at a position adjacent one end of the header and additional ground wheel is provided on the header adjacent the opposed end. The header is moved to a transport position by rotating the header relative to the attachment of the tractor and by actuating the ground wheel to move to a support position underneath the header. The header can therefore be transported in a direction inclined at an angle of the order of 60° to its normal working direction thus reducing its width. In the transport position, therefore, the header is supported on the hitch of the tractor and upon the additional separate ground wheel. This arrangement is limited to an off-center mounting on the header and to a bidirectional tractor and therefore is unsuitable for more conventional arrangements.
AGCO in their brochure for their 600 header transport arrangement provide a ground wheel at one end of the header which is steered by the towing vehicle and an additional wheel at the opposed end of the header which moves from a folded position underneath the header outwardly to a position in front of the cutter bar. This arrangement does not support the header in a manner which is sufficiently stable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,695 issued Oct. 26, 1999, of Dunn assigned to the present assignees MacDon, there is disclosed an arrangement where gauge wheels at the rear of the header are turned through 90 degrees and an additional separate wheel is added to the structure as a temporary attachment at the cutter bar.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,297 issued Apr. 3, 2001 of Yeomans assigned to the Deere, there is disclosed an arrangement where, in transport, one wheel is mounted at the rear of the header and one is mounted at the cutter bar. The wheel at the cutter bar is carried on an arm which swings from a stored position inclined rearwardly to an operating position at the cutter bar. The wheels can be removed and stored during field operation or the wheels can be used as gauge wheels during field operation in which case the wheel from the cutter bar is removed from its mounting arm and attached at a different location on the rear of the header.
Examples of pull-type swathers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,309 (Patterson), issued Sep. 15, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,158 (Kirkpatrick), issued Oct. 18, 1966; U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,909 (Hundeby), issued Aug. 31, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,709 (Killbery), issued Jul. 29, 1969 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,193 (Dietz), issued Jul. 17, 1984. Further examples are shown in Canadian Patent 973,367 (International Harvester), issued Aug. 26, 1975, and in brochures issued by Co-op Implements and Versatile. In many of these arrangements an additional wheel is added to the header frame at a suitable location so that the header frame is supported on three ground wheels at spaced positions to form a stable structure. In the Versatile arrangement, the outside wheel can be a dual wheel system which rotates about a vertical axis directly between the wheels. The header frame is supported by a jack and a further wheel is added at the hitch end forward of the header frame to provide a stable trailer construction.
None of these arrangements provide an effective transportation system for a header through a self-propelled vehicle and none provide a suitable system for attachment of an additional ground wheel or for attachment of the necessary hitch.